Sarah Palin — would have been the best candidate, but sadly the liberal media destroyed the chances of that in 2008.

Rick Perry — wasn’t well prepared but had the right views on the size of government and would have been good on social issues.

Rick Santorum — unlikely to get elected, but the guy I’d vote for today.  The correct positions on social issues but unfortunately not a small government guy.  I’d like to see him as VP.

Paul — the “cool” choice of college kids with some interesting ideas, but overall not someone I’d want to be President and also not electable.

Gingrich — brilliant guy but very flawed.  If you got the best of him it would be great, but that would be naive to expect.

Romney — not that much better than Obama, but I do see Ann Coulter’s points that he is strong against illegal immigration (assuming he’d actually do something about it).

Cain — could have been good.  Sin has consequences.

Bachmann — would like to see her somewhere in a Republican administration.

I’ve been displeased with the Chronicle for years. The leftist mentality pervades everything, including the Lifestyle section. They have run multiple nostalgic fluff-pieces on things like Playboy magazine and the Deep Throat movie. Seriously.

But I get much more accurate news online via blogs and such.  Yes, the Internet has a lot of nonsense, but one of the beauties of it is that over time you can determine which sites are credible and then have a package of blogs and sites that you can trust.  The system works.  I stay well informed on both sides (you can’t escape the Leftist media).  Sadly, too many people only read the Liberal media and their stereotypes of conservatives.

And we’ll save a few bucks as well.

I’m pretty sure that’s where Satan lives.

Source: My favorite blogger

Seriously, some sites are so evil you can feel it.  Go check out their Teenwire site where they actively encourage teens to do whatever they like, without consulting parents or their religion.

Side note: I’ve yet to come across a single pro-Planned Parenthood “pastor” who wasn’t a false teacher.

quite a few of my friends are gay. I am not. But knowing them, i know with all my heart they were born – created – gay. It is not something they chose to be.

I’ve had a lot of gay friends as well.  I don’t get in their face about it any more than I do that with the sins of heterosexual friends.  But I also don’t teach that any sins of my friends are acceptable to God.

You “know” that with your “heart?”  Emotions are nice, but not a good way to make decisions.  Please consider Paul’s prayer in Philippians 1:9-11 –  And it is my prayer that your love may abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment, so that you may approve what is excellent, and so be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.

Please note how he links love with knowledge and discernment.

I encourage you to read some research on the causes of homosexuality.  It is not genetic.

And even if they were “born that way,” it is a biblical concept that we are born with a sinful nature.  We don’t get an “ought” from an “is.”  Sadly, I’ve been really effective at coveting, pride and selfishness since I was little, but I don’t get a pass on those sins because I was “born that way.”

God is LOVE. God loves all of us. How could He not love people HE created gay?

I mean this in a most serious and kind way: How much of the Bible have you studied?  Do you not see how you could apply that to any sin?  Do you not see how seriously God treats sin?  My #1 recommendation to anyone debating any topic on Christianity is to read the Bible more.

God wants US to love one another. Treat one another with love and acceptance.

That argument assumes that homosexuality isn’t sinful, but it doesn’t explain why we should hold that view.  Can you show me in the Bible where we are taught to accept any sin?  How about 1 Corinthians 5?

I do not believe it is the right of any of us to judge any other person – only God.

But aren’t you judging me and others who hold the view that homosexual behavior is a sin (along with many other behaviors)?

I do not believe it’s about whether their behaviour is sinful or not. Who of us is without sin?

But it is about whether the behavior is sinful.  That’s the point of the discussion, and you’ve already claimed it isn’t sinful. But the burden of proof is on you to reason your case from the Bible.

The fact that we are all sinners doesn’t mean that we would encourage people to remain in sin.

The really Christian thing to do is love your neighbour. I love my gay friends, and they are beautiful and in some cases deeply Christian – more Christian than many so called Christians who have rejected them for their sexuality.

Your love for your friends isn’t the Biblical love of having their long-term best interests at heart.  If anyone teaches the opposite of the Bible then I don’t think it is correct to describe them as “deeply Christian.”

We don’t reject them for their sexuality, we love them enough to speak the truth.  I urge you to read the Bible thoroughly and reconsider your views.

How to save at Target — If my family misses a week at Target they send us get well cards.  You can get their “Red Card” credit card and save 5% on everything in the store and online.  You also get free shipping, which makes it handy for sending gifts.  And you can have 1% go to a school of your choice.  And if you use eBates you can get an extra 3% off online — so that is 8% off online purchases plus free shipping.

How to save on Amazon — Get the Amazon VISA and you get 3% off Amazon purchases and 1% on everything else you use it for (the credits are applied to your Amazon account so they are nearly as good as cash).  Also be sure to use the “Subscribe and save” feature where you can. You get 15% off on things you buy regularly, such as batteries, and they deliver them every X months. You get to pick the delivery schedule, it is easy to skip shipments if you don’t need them and easy to cancel.  We use Amazon a lot so the Prime membership (free two-day shipping on almost everything) is a great value.

Bing travel - I have found that their price indicators (guidance on whether prices are likely to increase or decrease) have been accurate.

Credit cards: Have the full balance paid from your checking account if you can (Chase and  Target do, for example).  That way you are never late and you don’t have to spend money on checks and stamps.

Note: Captain Obvious says that the suggestions on credit cards only work if you don’t buy anything you weren’t going to buy already.

I would add to this list: “How can your supporters call pro-lifers “zealots” when you were the lone voice against the Born Alive Infant Protection Act?  Aren’t you zealous, even for a pro-legalized abortionist, to fight for the right to kill infants who survived abortions?  And isn’t it zealous of you to fight for taxpayer-funded abortions that will make abortions far less rare and force pro-lifers to pay for them?”

During the practically endless series of Republican debates, we have heard almost every question imaginable asked to Republican candidates – if by every question imaginable, you mean horribly slanted, often irrelevant questions designed to make them look bad and help Obama. We’ve heard questions about contraceptives, religion, Newt’s angry ex-wife, Gardasil, etc., etc., etc. So, what would happen if the mainstream media treated Barack Obama the exact same way that they treat Republicans? The questions might sound a little something like this.

1) Numerous Mexican citizens and an American citizen have been killed with weapons knowingly provided to criminals by our own government during Operation Fast and Furious. If Eric Holder was aware that was going on, do you think he should step down as Attorney General? Were you aware that was going on and if so, shouldn’t you resign?

2) In 2010 you said Solyndra, which gave your campaign a lot of money, was “leading the way toward a brighter and more prosperous future.” Today, Solyndra is bankrupt and the taxpayers lost $500 million on loans that your administration was well aware might never be paid off when you made them. What do you say to people who say this is evidence of corruption in your administration?

3) Unions invested a lot of time and money in helping to get you elected. In return, they gained majority control of Chrysler, the taxpayers lost 14 billion dollars on General Motors, and General Motors received a special 45 billion dollar tax break. What do you say to people who view this as corruption on a scale never before seen in American history?

4) Through dubious means, you and your allies in Congress managed to push through an incredibly unpopular health care bill that helped lead to the worst election night for the Democratic Party in 50 years. Since the bill has passed, many of your claims about the bill have proven to be untrue. For example, we now know the bill won’t lower costs and despite your assurances to the contrary, big companies like McDonald’s say they may drop health care because of the health care reform. Since the American people have rejected your health care reform and it doesn’t do what you said it would, shouldn’t you work with the Republicans to repeal it?

. . .

15) Members of your administration promised that the trillion dollar stimulus would keep unemployment under 8 percent. Instead, we’ve had 35+ months of 8% and above unemployment. Doesn’t that mean we wasted a trillion dollars on nothing?

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A summary of Dr. Laura’s Proper Care and Feeding of Husbands – this is just the intro — be sure to read the entire post.

Dr. Laura Schlessinger has written another book that deserves a place on the best seller list with six of her other books, such as Ten Stupid Things Women Do to Mess Up Their Lives and Ten Stupid Things Men Do to Mess Up Their Lives. The Proper Care and Feeding of Husbands, from this unmarried man’s perspective, is an excellent manual for women on how to get want they want from men and marriage and, generally, how to be happy. Dr. Laura makes a number of important, practical points, based on her experience in private practice, from advising her radio callers, and from literally hundreds of letters and emails she received from men and women while she was writing the book.

—

Barack Obama fought the Born Alive Infant Protection Act, which protected infants who survived abortions from being murdered, but the media calls Rick Santorum the extremist?!

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Peer-reviewed paper in medical journal challenges Darwinian evolution – Wait, that can’t be right!  Everyone knows that there is no such thing as that.

A new article by Dr. Joseph Kuhn of the Department of Surgery at Baylor University Medical Center, appearing in the peer-reviewed journal Baylor University Medical Center Proceedings, poses a number of challenges to both chemical and biological evolution. Titled “Dissecting Darwinism,” the paper begins by recounting some of the arguments raised during the Texas State Board of Education debate that challenged chemical and biological evolution. Those challenges include:

1. Limitations of the chemical origin of life data to explain the origin of DNA
2. Limitations of mutation and natural selection theories to address the irreducible complexity of the cell
3. Limitations of transitional species data to account for the multitude of changes involved in the transition.

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Why do people hate Tim Tebow? Why do people want Tim Tebow to fail? – It is interesting watching the haters get so riled up about Tim Tebow.  Why wouldn’t feminists want a guy like Tebow, who would be faithful to them, have their long-term best interests at heart, not want to take away their purity, not risk them having to get a disease, an abortion or to be a single parent?  One pro-abortion group tried to raise funds by asking people to donate money for each touchdown pass Tebow makes, so they could somehow profit from his success.  He is similar to Sarah Palin in that his life and story mock the pro-abortion theme that we need to kill the unborn if they aren’t perfect or wanted.

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Your tax dollars at work: The administration of the most pro-abortion President ever thought that taxpayer-funded abortions in the U.S. weren’t enough.  They needed to increase abortions in Kenya as well and hired surrogates to spread their message.  It stills sickens me to hear alleged pro-lifers rationalize their vote for Obama.

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Stan does his usual excellent work in examining this comment by William Lane Craig:

The counterfactuals of creaturely freedom which confront Him are outside His control. [God] has to play with the hand He has been dealt. — William Lane Craig

Craig is really good but isn’t perfect.  That was a truly odd comment of him to make, but when you peel back the layers it is actually consistent with his worldview.  Whether it is Arminianism or Molinism, they leave the final say to humans on many issues.

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MLK, Jr believed homosexuals could –and should– change – Oh noes — what will the fake Christians do with that fact? Oh, they’ll just say he would have changed his mind, just like Jesse went from pro-life to pro-abortion.

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What is interesting is that of the three types of pro-gay theology – all of which are wrong — only one claims that we are misunderstanding the text. The other two concede what authentic Christians and even most atheists and other non-believers know, namely that it clearly defines homosexual behavior as sinful.

Type 1: The Bible is either not the Word of God, or most parts of it aren’t. This view claims that we can ignore the prohibitions against homosexual behavior because they were written by homophobic Jews.

Type 2: The Bible is the Word of God, but it doesn’t really say homosexual behavior is wrong. This view holds that people just aren’t reading the Bible properly, and that God’s Word is actually affirming of gay relationships.

Type 3: The Bible is the Word of God and does clearly and emphatically describe gay behavior as sinful. However, the Holy Spirit has given additional revelations such that this behavior is now acceptable. This view holds that God has changed his mind on this moral issue and not only is it now acceptable, but it is sinful if you don’t affirm this behavior and same-sex relationships.

I don’t know the precise percentages of people in each group. Sometimes they shift between categories in a contradictory attempt to make their case.  In my experience the first group is the large, the second is next and then the third.  No matter how you slice it, two of the types concede what the Bible really says.

Then add to that how most atheists agree that the Bible says that homosexual behavior is sinful.  I realize they don’t have the gift of the Holy Spirit, but many things are plain from the text.

So you have all the Bible-believing Christians plus two out of three types of pro-gay theologians plus most atheists all agreeing that the Bible says that homosexual behavior is a sin.  Should you listen to them or to the pro-gay theology subset that insists that Jews misunderstood the issue for 2,000 years and then the Christians for another 2,000 years?

The Bible is very, very clear.  Don’t be fooled into thinking it isn’t.

• 100% of the verses addressing homosexual behavior denounce it as sin in the clearest and strongest possible terms.
• 100% of the verses referring to God’s ideal for marriage involve one man and one woman.
• 100% of the verses referencing parenting involve moms and dads with unique roles (or at least a set of male and female parents guiding the children).
• 0% of 31,173 Bible verses refer to homosexual behavior in a positive or even benign way or even hint at the acceptability of homosexual unions.

See Responding to Pro-Gay Theology for concise yet thorough replies to the common objections to the text.

Aside from the Bible, consider how atheist countries like the former U.S.S.R., China, etc. all consider marriage to be between one man and one woman and hold that homosexual behavior is wrong.  Then add in the Buddhists, Hindus and especially the Muslims.

Jim “the Gospel is all about wealth redistribution“ Wallis‘ blog had nothing to say about the human beings destroyed around the world each day. Nothing.

That’s typical of the “social justice” crowd.  What could be more unjust than ignoring that 3,000+ human beings are crushed and dismembered each day in the U.S. alone just because they are unwanted?  What about the tens of millions of gender selection abortions that kill females for the sole reason that they are female? What about 90% of Down Syndrome children killed because they are a little different?

Wallis has a big microphone but just uses it to advance his politics-disguised-as-religion wealth redistribution schemes.

I have yet to find a pro-abortion “reverend” who isn’t a fake.  Case in point: Race-baiting Chuck “Jesus is not the only way” Currie.  He and his fellow false teachers aren’t just pro-choice, they are pro-abortion, because they advocate for taxpayer-funded abortions.  These will obviously increase the number of abortions, so he can’t even play the lame “safe (uh, except for the unborn), legal and rare” card.  And his policies will certainly increase the rate of abortions in the black community, which is already 3x that of whites.  It is the ultimate racism.

See “Observe the Roe v. Wade Anniversary by Staying Vigilant and Taking Action” for a shining example.

As the Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice celebrates the 39th anniversary of Roe v. Wade, the war on women rages on,

War on women?  What about gender selection abortions that have killed tens of millions of females for the sole reason that they are female?  What about the women pressured to have abortions by family members and the fathers of the children?

and we who trust women and respect their decisions

Those are empty words.  What if the women wanted to kill their toddlers?  Would you trust and respect those decisions?

must renew our commitment to protecting this landmark Supreme Court ruling. On January 22, 1973, the Supreme Court said, in simple terms, that women have a constitutional right to privacy to make decisions about whether to have an abortion. Because this decision involves moral as well as medical considerations, the Court ruled, a woman has the right to consider her personal circumstances and the dictates of her conscience.

Again, if her conscience permits her to kill her toddler is that adequate?  Of course not.  So the only question is, “What is the unborn?”  The scientific fact is that they are human beings.

It’s especially important for the pro-faith community to speak out now.

Read: Fake Christians.

For the past year, zealots in Congress and state legislatures

So trying to save the lives of innocent human beings makes one a zealot, but President Obama’s fight to be able to kill those who survive abortions is not zealotry?   Chuck seems pretty zealous about wanting to have even more unborn human beings killed, at your expense!

– many of whom preach the sanctity of privacy and freedom from government –

Can women kill their toddler’s in private?  No, so privacy isn’t the issue.

“Freedom from the government” ignores that they are protecting a human life who should be free from being crushed and dismembered.  One of the main roles of government is to protect human life.

have relentlessly waged a vicious war on women’s access to health care.

Crushing and dismembering innocent human beings is not health care.

More than 1,000 bills were introduced in state legislatures, including the Ohio “heartbeat” bill banning abortion after the 6th or 7th week of gestation, and numerous bills requiring pregnant women to have ultrasounds. In 2011, 92 anti-abortion provisions were enacted – the most in any year since Roe v. Wade was decided!

Yea!  Keep up the fight, pro-lifers!  That is great progress.

He was way ahead of his time.  The reaction of Darwin & Co. show how they weren’t driven by science, but by their materialistic ideology.  Little has changed.

Hat tip: Uncommon Descent

Pro-choice for education?  Careers?  Whom to marry? Whether to buy health insurance?  Whether to own a gun?  Whether to home school your children?  Those are fine.

Oh, you meant, “Pro-choice to kill an innocent but unwanted human being?”  I can’t go for that.

People who favor pro-legalized-abortion are skilled at the name game.  If you didn’t know better you’d think they didn’t know how to complete a sentence.  They will do anything to avoid the word abortion.  It is always, “choice,” “reproductive freedom,” “women’s rights,” etc.  And they call us “anti-choice.”

I’d be OK with any of those labels provided that they completed the sentence for a change:

- Anti-choice to crush and dismember an innocent human being

- Pro-choice to kill an innocent yet unwanted human being

- A woman’s right to have her unborn child destroyed (but not a man’s right)

- Pro-reproductive freedom to kill an innocent human being after she has been reproduced, up to and including partial birth abortion (and after, if your last name is Obama) [Never let them get away with using "reproductive freedom" in relation to abortion, as it is a scientific fact that abortions kill human beings that have already been reproduced.]

- and so on.

And do they really want choice, or do they want abortions?  Courtesy of Duane, read about the 14 yr. old girl who had to sue her family to prevent them from forcing to kill her child — and their grandchild!  Why hasn’t this made front-page news and lit up the pro-”choice” blogs?

A theologically liberal blogger commented on another site about choice:

As to the abortion issue, as ___ raises it, he is exactly right. That’s the whole point of being “pro-choice”. I can’t speak for anyone else, so I’ll just say that, being pro-choice means just that. Gov. Palin and her husband are to be admired for their decision, even after it was revealed the baby would have Down’s, to continue with the pregnancy and add a fifth child at such a late point in their lives. Another couple might have made another choice, and there is nothing inherently wrong with that because I do not live their lives, and cannot make their moral or family choices for them.

As with most pro-legalized-abortion arguments he ignores the obvious: The Palin’s can’t legally choose to destroy the Down Syndrom child once he is outside the womb (at least not yet).  So the only question is, “What is the unborn?”  Hint: Scientifically speaking, he is a human being.  So we shouldn’t give anyone the choice to kill him.

I saw this a while back: Adoption: The choice where no one dies.

Via SUNDAY! Ask Them What They Mean by “Choice” Day – Jill Stanek.

It is certainly worth investigating why income and wealth inequality are increasing, but only to better understand the global economy and to help determine how to increase the income and wealth of the poor even faster. The real question is not how to reduce income and wealth inequality but how to increase the income and wealth of everyone. Increasing income and wealth inequality is not a problem if real income and wealth are also increasing at all levels, as is the case now. Leftists, who dislike capitalism and envy the rich, want everyone to be focused on the wrong issue (income inequality) in order to avoid talking about the fact that the free market has succeeded in increasing real incomes at all levels.

The income and standard of living of the poor and the “poor” (i.e., those who make less than average but have remarkably higher standards of living than most of the planet) have risen dramatically over the last 200 years.

When politicians of a certain political party are destroying the wealth for everyone — not just the rich — they like to change the subject by encouraging coveting and envy.  Their trick du jour is to talk about income inequality.  Just remind them of the facts of history and then ask how spending over 50% more than you take in is helping the situation.

And you can also point out that confiscating the wealth of all billionaires and professional athletes barely makes a dent in the deficit.

I knew the Girl Scouts had issues but it has gotten much worse: Radically pro-abortion and pro-Planned Parenthood-style sex education and more.  Please read the entire link and stop supporting this organization.

When our sweet little neighbor in her brown camp uniform came knocking on our door this year, we had to say no. I told her mother that I didn’t want to hurt Katie’s feelings, but I couldn’t support the Girl Scout cookie sale anymore because I’d learned too much about the organizers’ agenda, primarily their support for abortion and partnership with Planned Parenthood.

I worried that my “political” stand would cause uneasiness between us, but her response put me at ease: “Well,” she said, “they do use unpaid child labor to make their sales, and the troop only gets 10 percent of the revenues anyway.”

Or is it? Cathy Ruse argues that Girl Scouts’ ties with abortion giant Planned Parenthood, and a morally “progressive” agenda discounts it from receiving our support.

True. According to the Girl Scouts’ website, the lion’s share of the money goes not to the troop but to bureaucrats up the chain of command in multicounty councils. The national office gets a piece of the pie, too, in the form of royalties based on gross annual sales volume – about 200 million boxes per year.

. . .

Last year, the Girl Scouts decided to admit boys who dress as girls. . . . Perpetuating this cruel charade on the little boy and forcing little girls to participate in it is “inclusiveness” to the Girl Scouts. To others, it’s child abuse.

But it shouldn’t be surprising: The Girl Scouts have a cross-dresser in the front office.

Ten years ago, Girl Scouts media relations officer Joshua Ackley was frontman for the “homopunk” band the Dead Betties. In publicity shots, he’s dressed in women’s clothing, and in music videos, he appears to be naked and feigning masturbation. The video for “Hellevator” portrays a woman being strangled in an elevator shaft while Mr. Ackley flashes a menacing grin.

Today he issues press releases, posts news and views on the Girl Scouts’ blog, and tries to mollify moms who are concerned about Girl Scout ties with Planned Parenthood. In fact, it was Mr. Ackley who facilitated the Girl Scouts’ “no adults allowed” workshop at the United Nations – the workshop in which the Planned Parenthood sex brochure “Healthy, Happy, and Hot” was offered, although part of Mr. Ackley’s job is to deny it.

It wouldn’t be a surprise if someone like Mr. Ackley was behind the Girl Scouts’ recent scandal: a guidebook that tells girls to check with the leftist, George Soros-funded Media Matters before believing what they read in the news.

. . . Several years ago. a quarter of the Girl Scout councils nationwide admitted to partnering with Planned Parenthood, the nation’s abortion giant. When questioned about the affiliation on NBC’s “Today Show,” Girl Scout CEO Kathy Cloninger had no compunction in confirming it.

The Girl Scouts have been “pro-choice” for years, but now they’ve been caught supporting promiscuous sex for girls. The Planned Parenthood sex guide offered at that “girls only” U.N. meeting offered this advice on Page 11: “Some people have sex when they have been drinking alcohol or using drugs. This is your choice. … If you want to have sex and think you might get drunk or high, plan ahead by bringing condoms and lube or putting them close to where you usually have sex.”

Heard enough? There’s a lot more at 100questionsforthegirlscouts.org.

Earlier this month, a young Girl Scout employee, Renise Rodriguez, made the mistake of stopping by the office to do extra work on her own time in a T-shirt bearing the words: “Pray to End Abortion.” A supervisor ordered her to turn the shirt inside out or leave the office. She left, for good.

So should we all.

Hat tip for the link: My favorite blogger

I did both.

As noted below, the GBCS is pro-abortion.  And not just a little bit: Methodists helped found and still actively support the Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice that blasphemes God by insisting that He is pro-abortion.  And I do mean pro-abortion and not pro-choice.  If you push for taxpayer-funded abortions, you are pro-abortion.

Here is the comment that was left here.

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Last year I was asked to be on the Church Growth Committee at my United Methodist Church.I accepted and began to study why our Church was not growing.Initially,I studied the demographics of our local area to determine what our target group ,so to speak, was and how we could bring the message of salvation to them. I first assumed that the greatest potential for growth would be among the unchurched.It proved to be an alarming study.Most of what I found was already known by our pastors,district superintendents and our bishops. Our leaders were aware of the aging of the Church membership, the movement of our youth away from mainline church membership,the lack of pastors under thirty-five years of age,the lack of men pastoral candidates in our seminaries,the number of second career candidates and unfortunately the overall quality of those answering the call to be pastors.However, my study lead to more then just changing “how we do church” by offering a traditional or contemporary service , starting a Saturday night service,combining with a minority church to share talent, ideas and resources, hiring a highly paid Youth Director or even paying our associate ministers a decent wage. No, I found out that our church has changed fundamentally from the Wesleyan tradition and has limited our evangelical target groups so severely that continued growth will be unachievable in the future. Why? A growing Church is a biblical.,Christ-centered Church. Now wait! Hear me out.
Over time our seminaries have become packed with very liberal,if not socialist, professors.The procedures for becoming tenured in our universities is flawed.The vetting of our potential pastors, district superintendents and bishops is inadequate. The oversight of the General Board of Global Ministries/General Board of the Church and Society/ Women’s Division has been totally lacking.
Here are a few of my findings, no my beliefs, after nearly a year of trying to answer, ” Why is our Church not growing?” I had to add another question ,”Why is the Church not retaining its membership?”. The fact that the death rate of Methodists is 33% greater than the national average only shows how aged the membership is.

A.Through our political activism we have we have limited our influence on many segments of society.

a.The Church’s inclusion and support of the Methodist Federation for Social Action (MFSA) http://www.crossroad.to/Quotes/communism/communism.htm https://www.cal-pacmfsa.org/uploads/CalPacMFSA_Nwsltr_June2007.pdf alienates many of members and non-members of the Church.Personally, I am concerned with any organization that invites the Rev. Jeremiah Wright ,of the United Church of Christ, to be the keynote Speaker at its annual conference as the Iowa Conference did.The close association of our Church with the ultra- liberal United Church of Christ does help the Church. The United Church of Christ has offices in all our of the Church’s buildings in Washing DC and NYC.
United Church of Christ in US endorses same-sex marriage New York
(ENI) July 2005
The United Church of Christ has become the first major denomination in the United States to endorse same-sex marriage. In a move heralded as historic by gay-rights proponents and criticized by opponents of same sex relationships, the UCC’s General Synod, meeting in Atlanta, on 4 July voted overwhelmingly in favor of a resolution that “affirms equal marriage rights for couples regardless of gender”.
b. Our seemingly disregard of the Book of Resolutions and Social Principles in regard to the acceptance of the homosexual lifestyle alienates another large segment of the population.having Bishops march with Soul Force at the 2008 General Assembly was upsetting to many potential members and members of our congregations.The retired Bishops that performed same-sex marriages did harm to the growth of the Church and caused many members to grieve .When Bishop Ough keynoted a Reconciling Church Celebration, as the Maynard Avenue United Methodist Church of Columbus, Ohio became a Reconciling Congregation, he was clearly in support of the homosexual lifestyle.Bishop Ough has served as the bishop of the Ohio West Area of the United Methodist Church since September 2000 and was reappointed to the same area for the 2009-2012 quadrennium. He was the president of the Church’s General Board of Global Ministries, having been elected to that office in 2008.
Northern Illinois United Methodist Conference Urges: Homosexuality/bisexuality “gift of God”
June 6, 2003
Highlights of text:
…human sexuality is a good gift of God…
…homosexuality, heterosexuality and bi-sexuality all share that gift…
…we commit to proclaim that homosexual orientation (no less or more than heterosexual orientation) can be compatible with Christian teaching
… We encourage clergy to preach this from our pulpits …
…we encourage lay people to teach it in our Sunday school classes and tell it to our children…
…we affirm that loving, monogamous, intimate relationships between persons of the same or opposite gender, are an expression of God’s love…
…we affirm that persons of all sexual orientations are equally called to ordained ministry…
…as lay persons we will similarly affirm that call and we will offer ourselves fully in mutual ministry with pastors of our churches regardless of that person’s sexual orientation…

The Sex and the Church series published at the General Board of Church and Society website is about as edifying as Sex and the City.
The latest article
discusses the “evils” of heterosexism. (One wonders if there are also such things as asexism, homosexism and bisexism.)
Did you know that if you assume that a little boy will like toy trucks and guns or that little girls will like dolls, you’re a heterosexist and a homophobe? You’re also a homophobe if you describe families as consisting of “mommies and daddies”. Sodom and Gomorrah’s big sin was a “failure of hospitality.” And yes, you’re a homophobe if you don’t consider this to be a valid interpretation. That’s what Audrey Krumbach says anyway.
Does the average United Methodist know that this kind of nonsense is being propagated by an official church agency? (Have we forgotten that the official view of the UMC is that homosexuality is “incompatible with Christian teaching”?) I attend a fairly liberal United Methodist church, but I’m betting that even in my congregation most of the people are in the dark about what’s going on.
It’s time to shine some light on some of these problems. A lot of shenanigans happen in our denomination because the average United Methodist either doesn’t know or doesn’t care.
Posted by Shane Raynor on February 09, 2010 at 10:00 AM

c.United Methodist Bishop Denies the Gospel on International Television
The Christian Sentinel – April 1, 2003{definition of religious pluralism added}
There he was — a representative of the second largest Protestant denomination on March 11 with a perfect opportunity to share his faith in Christ with the world watching him on “Larry King Live” on CNN. From the way the calls were coming in from from the U.S. and overseas during the show’s Q&A time period, the viewers were attentive — and on edge over the possibility of a U.S. coalition war with Iraq. Many callers were seeking guidance from the five Christian leaders gathered that evening for the telecast.
But retired Bishop Melvin Talbert, the ecumenical officer for the United Methodist Church, not only blew the opportunity to tell the world about God’s gift to humanity through Christ’s sacrificial death on the cross for their sins, but he preached a different gospel and he affirmed universalism. His comments may have helped some viewers move to an eternity apart from Christ, because what he clearly said was that other roads also lead to salvation, including those caught in the twisted world of Islam.This is Religious Pluralism- A response to the religious diversity inherent in 21st century Western culture which entails a belief that one’s own beliefs about God are self-sufficient but not universally applicable. In other words, it is the belief that “God is greater than any
one view of God.” Therefore, salvation, divine revelation, etc. are manifest and applicable to all people in diverse waysTo understand Islam is to know that we cannot identify Muslims as those who “along with us adore the one and merciful God.” To deny the Trinity is to worship another God.

Respect is a problematic category. In the end, Christians must show respect for Muslims by sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ in the spirit of love and truth. We are called to love and respect Muslims, not Islam.
Moreover, Talbert seriously warped Scripture during his appearance and misrepresented it — declaring that it calls for things it does not, and in doing so he misrepresented the Christian faith and betrayed the Wesleyan tradition of his own denomination. This is heresy, folks. It is part of an increasing flood of apostasy, a falling away by so called Christian leaders in the Main Line denominations. Few leaders today represent the face of apostasy and the voice of treachery and treason within Christianity better than Bishop Talbert.
This latest controversy, however, is not new with Talbert. He has been brought up on discipline charges before the UMC in the past, with various evangelicals accusing him of lying and of deliberately defying church law. In more recent years he has angered many within Methodism for his promotion of homosexuality — even sanctioning gay marriages in direct defiance of his church, not to mention Scripture.
d. I think Methodist Churches has been duped by the socialist left and and radical Islam,.
.The Council for American-Islamic Relations( CAIR)http://www.meforum.org/916/cair-islamists-fooling-the-establishment , has offices in the Methodist Buildings in NYC.In NYC they share the suite with Columbia University Trustees.-Islamic radicals and the trustees of socialism. Bishop Bruce R Ough, West Ohio Conference United Methodist Church,issued a press conference statement vilifying the “Obsession” DVD,RADICAL ISLAM’S WAR AGAINST THE WEST. As president of the church’s North Central Jurisdiction College of Bishops,he dismissed the complaints(essentially charges of heresy) filed against Bishop C. Joseph Sprague of Chicago .I guess his not understanding the threat radical Islam should have been expected. He should read:Tablighi Jamaat: Recipe for an Islamic State,http://westminsterjournal.com/content/view/202/30/ , ,http://www.investigativeproject.org/985/fbi-cuts-off-cair-over-hamas-questions

The Islamic Society Of North America(http://www.discoverthenetworks.org/groupProfile.asp?grpid=6178 ),Nation Magazine(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Nation) , National Religious Campaign Against Torture and the Muslim Public Affairs Council (http://www.discoverthenetworks.org/groupProfile.asp?grpid=6177 ) all have offices in the Methodist Building located at 110 Maryland Ave NE in Washington, DC.The Methodist Building located at 475 Riverside Dr in NYC is the office of the CAIR-NY and the Imams Council Of New York.The Methodist building across from the United Nations at 777 united nations Plaza are the offices of Amnesty Internationalhttp://www.discoverthenetworks.org/groupProfile.asp?grpid=6185, Caritas Internationalishttp://www.ngo-monitor.org/article.php?id=884 . The goals of the Communist Party,the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) ,the United Nations and the GBGM/GBCS seem to closely parallel each other http://www.dsausa.org/about/where.htmlCORA WEISShttp://www.discoverthenetworks.org/individualProfile.asp?indid=1677 , President, Hague Appeal for Peacehttp://www.pfcmc.com/cyberschoolbus/peace/GlobalCampaignStatement.htm , and the SAMUEL RUBIN FOUNDATION,http://www.discoverthenetworks.org/funderprofile.asp?fndid=5348&category=79 .
e. Again Bishop Bruce R Ough, West Ohio Conference United Methodist Church,issued a press conference statement vilifying the “Obsession” DVD,RADICAL ISLAM’S WAR AGAINST THE WEST. As president of the church’s North Central Jurisdiction College of Bishops,he dismissed the complaints(essentially charges of heresy) filed against Bishop C. Joseph Sprague of Chicago .I guess his not understanding the threat radical Islam should have been expected. He should read:Tablighi Jamaat: Recipe for an Islamic State http://www.tcunation.com/group/christiansstandingwithisrael/forum/topics/islam-lite-in-christian?commentId=2476373%3AComment%3A346638&xg_source=activity&groupId=2476373%3AGroup%3A343898

f. Our continued association with Socialist and lert wing groups as DSA, Sojourners, Code Pink, http://www.dsausa.org/about/where.html http://www.discoverthenetworks.org/printindividualProfile.asp?indid=1833 ,http://www.philvalentine.com/TakingBackTheUMC.htm ,http://www.philvalentine.com/NashvillePeaceJusticeCenter.htm ,These kinds of shenanigans definitely mar the reputation of our Church and Church growth.http://www.dsausa.org/about/where.html http://www.acton.org/publications/randl/rl_20_1_communism_article.php http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/1348488/posts
The NCC has offices in the Methodist buildings in Washington DC and NYC. http://www.reformed-theology.org/html/issue07/apostasy.htm http://www.apfn.org/apfn/wcc.htm
g. The following are concepts that are pervasive in today’s mainline Churches:
Religious Liberalism (Modernism) — A religious movement that elevates human reason
(as manifested in rationalism, science, humanism and empiricism) above divine
revelation in an attempt to make the Christian faith compatible with modern culture.
Religious liberalism originally stemmed from the theological and philosophical bases of
the Age of Reason, or the Enlightenment Period. The two pillars on which religious
liberalism rests are the higher criticism and the Darwinian theory of evolution. Religious
liberalism, or modernism, denies the supernatural and emphasizes the supposed inherent
goodness and progress of mankind.
Postmodernism — The natural end of modernism (religious liberalism). Postmodernism
is a recent philosophical and theological development that denies the reality of
transcendent, objective truth by claiming that all notions of truth are socially constructed.
Truth is not a transcendent reality but a social creation of human intellect and language.
Therefore, all beliefs are equally true and valid, and any claim to absolute, objective truth
is rejected since such a claim necessarily negates the “trueness” of any competing beliefs.
As one writer stated, “Everything can mean anything, so everything means nothing.” Key
tenets of postmodernism include moral, theological and linguistic relativism, religious
pluralism and tolerance.
Religious Pluralism — A response to the religious diversity inherent in 21st century
Western culture which entails a belief that one’s own beliefs about God are self-sufficient
but not universally applicable. In other words, it is the belief that “God is greater than any
one view of God.” Therefore, salvation, divine revelation, etc. are manifest and
applicable to all people in diverse ways.
These concepts are preventing mainline Churches from growing or retaining their membership as the laity begins to understand what their giving is supporting.
The Methodist Church has been consumed by the socialist United Nations ‘s agenda.So much so, even when the agenda embraces Anti-American or Anti- Israel, the General Board of Church and Society/General Board Of Global Ministries sign letters. petitions with the likes of Code Pink, United for Peace and Justice, Veterans for Peace,ACLU, Sojourners, MoveOn.org, Oxfam America,Columbus Progressive Alliance, American Friends Service Committee,Fellowship of Reconciliation, Earth Charter ,Africa Action, IPS ,Tides Foundation, Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and others.Why does it matter?The Church is losing its mission.Here are a few examples:
1. Kofi A. Annan, Past Secretary-General, the United Nations is adamantly supported by James Edward Winkler and of course Ret Bishop Melvin Talbert http://www.ncccusa.org/pdfs/UNAd.pdf
.Annan is for a global government and he could not hide his anti America sentiments even in his farewell speech.
2. So what is the GBCS’s definition of Social Justice? Let’s look how the UMC’s social justice agent responded to the recent attempt by activists to run the the blockage of Gaza:
WASHINGTON, D.C. – The United Methodist General Board of Church and Society (GBCS) is condemning the deadly interception Monday (May 31) in international waters by Israeli troops that led to the deaths of nine persons on a humanitarian aid mission to Gaza. The nine persons were part of an international “Freedom Flotilla” of six vessels carrying nearly 10,000 tons of food and medicine to Gaza, which has been under an Israeli blockade for three years.
“We grieve the loss of life and injuries sustained in what became a tragic confrontation between the forces of peace and those of armed aggression,” said Jim Winkler, chief executive of the United Methodist social justice agency.

This is the typical of the GBCS.They never mention the need for the blockade, that out of five ships only one chose to fight the Israelis or the tons of aid and supplies that has been delivered to Gaza through Israel.The GBCS has long ago accepted the WCC, NCC, and the UN stance on Israel. I truly believe that all these organizations realize that the only sane player in the Middle East Conflict is Israel and hope of peace through compromise must be with the Israelis.

Let’s look at GBCS real issues:

A.GBCS is Anti-Israel http://www.americanthinker.com/2008/02/the_united_methodist_church_an.html

B.GBCS is Anti- War-Was Jesus a pacifist?http://www.gotquestions.org/Jesus-pacifist.html
How will the Church address the Carnage and Slaughter caused by these Sons of Satan? http://www.matrixbookstore.
biz/war_criminals.htm , http://www.parade.com/articles/editions/2006/edition_01-22-2006/Dictator, http://www.unwatch.org/site/c.bdKKISNqEmG/b.1277549/k.D7FE/UN_Watch__Monitoring_the_UN_Promoting_Human_Rights.htm,http://www.eyeontheun.org/view.asp?l=21&p=142

C. GBCS is Pro- Abortion

D.GBCS supports the breaking of the laws of the United States-At an April rally in Washington, D.C., United Methodist Bishop Minerva Carcaño addresses thousands of protesters calling for fair treatment of undocumented immigrants. She will be a featured speaker at ‘Welcoming the Sojourner’ Oct. 16-18, in Naperville, Ill.”Welcoming the Sojourner” is co-sponsored by the North Central Jurisdiction of The United Methodist Church and the denomination’s General Board of Church & Society (GBCS). Without borders we have no Nation- Without borders we have no Sovereignty.

E. GBCS supports the premise that that capitalism has caused Global Warming an owes developing nations reparations for the damage.

F. GBCS supports radical environment justice

G.GBCS supports interfaith-not inter-denominational but interfaith(religious pluralism)

H. GBCS Supports disarmament -peace through weakness- to the glee of the socialists/communists dictators

I.GBCS supports the ban on all hand guns-The Second Amendment (Amendment II) to the United States Constitution is the part of the United States Bill of Rights that protects a right to keep and bear arms .[1] Justice Antonin Scalia , wrote that the “the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed” was a just a controlling one and referred to it as a pre-existing right of individuals to possess and carry personal weapons for self-defense and intrinsically for defense against tyranny . The Hand Guns National Coalition to Ban is located in the Methodist Building( 100 Maryland Ave NW) in Washing DC.Again,to the glee to all who would want to harm.

J. GBCS is and was an avid supporter of Kofi Annan- enough said!

K. .GBGM/GBCS/Women’s Division continue to fund RCRC and Planned Parenthood

L. . Other tenants in Methodist Buildings include Nations Magazine( flag ship of the Left), Mother Jones Magazine,NCC Eco- Justice Programs Amnesty International.

Do I think the associations do harm? Yes!

The GBCS has become and active member of the socialist left in this country. Some examples are listed below:

a.Protests with radical organizations to change US foreign policy http://www.unitedforpeace.org/article.php?id=339 , http://www.capitalresearch.org/pubs/pubs.html?id=695 ,
Prominent among those arrested in front of the White House include Father Joseph Nangle, co-director of Franciscan Missions, James Winkler, General Secretary of the the GBCS, and Leslie Cagan,http://www.discoverthenetworks.org/individualProfile.asp?indid=629 , national coordinator of the United for Peace and Justice activist group(UFPJ) (http://www.discoverthenetworks.org/groupProfile.asp?grpid=6166 .

b. The Women’s Division has marched with radicals groups (Code Pink http://www.discoverthenetworks.org/groupProfile.asp?grpid=61490
ACLU,Golbal Exchange( http://www.discoverthenetworks.org/groupProfile.asp?grpid=6151 ), DSA ( http://www.discoverthenetworks.org/groupProfile.asp?grpid=6428 ).

c. The General Secretary of the GBCS serves on the Board of Africa Action with Emira Woods,( http://www.ips-dc.org/staff/ emira ,
http://www.discoverthenetworks.org/groupProfile.asp?grpid=6991 .

d. Phyllis Bennis is a Fellow of the Institute for Policy Studies http://www.discoverthenetworks.org/groupProfile.asp?grpid=6991 ,
http://www.discoverthenetworks.org/individualProfile.asp?indid=2147 ,co-authored Ending the US War in Afghanistan with
David Wildman.He is Executive Secretary for Human Rights and Racial Justice with the General Board of Global Ministries, United Methodist Church. He has regional responsibilities relating to the Middle East and Afghanistan and has in recent years traveled to Afghanistan four times.

e. The Board has accepted the socialist belief that all the injustices in the world have been caused by capitalism, racism ,colonialism,US imperialism and US foreign policies.
f. On February 22-23, thirty-two leaders from Central and South America gathered in Cancun to organize the new regional union of “Latin American and Caribbean States.” Communist rulers from Cuba and Venezuela were warmly welcomed. The United States and Canada were not invited.

Nor was Porfirio Lobo, Honduras’ new president. Instead, the leaders planned to discuss the issue of his legitimacy. Some still denied the unwanted facts

behind the legal removal of the corrupt former President Zelaya — a collaborator with Communist Hugo Chavez and the drug lords they both protected.The GBCS strongly supported the President Zelaya.
g. United Nations is entrenched within most Christian Denominations.( http://faultlineusa.blogspot.com/2007/04/united-nations-entrenched-within-most.html, http://www.camera.org/, http://www.crossroad.to/Excerpts/chronologies/un.htm, http://www.crossroad.to/text/articles/turfur12-98.html, http://www.crossroad.to/, http://mises.org/daily/2318

3 So, what is GBCS’s definition of “Social Justice”? It is political not religious.It combines economic justice,environmental justice,gender justice into a world view that systematically blames the world’s problems on apartheid,colonialism, imperialism, US foreign policy ,corporate irresponsibility and globalization.The Church has accepted the secular version of Social Gospel.gotquestions.org States:
Adherents of the Social Gospel believe that individuals could only leave their sinful lifestyle if the social and economic situations were changed that drove them into sin in the first place. As a result of this reasoning, individual salvation was important, but second to social reform, which would convert people into Gods kingdom. Salvation of the individual then, stood as an important byproduct of working for a literal kingdom of God on earth. Working for social improvement, the Kingdom of God on earth was the thrust of the Social gospel movement. This is now become Social Justice{not Christian Charity but government control to effect equality in all things ie Socialism}This type of gospel alienates many of the membership who still believe that our time on earth should be spent in glorifying GOD and making disciples of all nations.
When churches seek unity they accept unbiblical lifestyles and religions( Religious Pluralism because they have not recognized Christ as the head of the universal church (Colossians 1:18), and are preaching “another gospel” (Galatians 1:1-9).
The true Gospel is defined in 1 Corinthians 15:3-4 and John 3:16.
I can more easily explain what their definition is not. It is not biblical!

The best guide for Christians that I could find is contained in:

Dr. John F. MacArthur, Jr.
Why Government Can’t Save You : An Alternative to Political Activism. Nashville, TN : Thomas Nelson Publishers, 2000

I first became appalled with what my Church was doing-no become- when I read about the Trinity United Methodist Church in Austin welcoming into its pulpit a pagan Wiccan priest of the Covenant of the Goddess.Have we become a Apostate Church?Bishop Whitaker , Pluralism might not have been a problematic in the first century but it is now in the 21th century.
WE will soon have only Red and Blue , Pro or Anti Israel and Pro and Anti Homosexuality,Pro illegal immigration or anti illegal immigration, Pro Gun control or anti Gun control CHURCHES.We will have forgotten That Jesus did got come to overthrow the very oppressive Roman government but to establish his heavenly kingdom.We have forgotten the great commission.The only thing that can change the evil and corruption on this earth is by the acceptance of Jesus as our savior and be transformed to live a Christian life.The Church must return to the Biblical Truths to Grow the Lords’ Church.We are alienating the very people we are wanting to bring to Christ.
Our relationship to the United Nations and its Anti-American,Anti- Israel ,Pro World Government stance is of special interest to me.I am concerned about the time and energy we spend on advancing the UN’s social agenda.I need for the Bishops to answer the following questions:
A.Should Christians be tolerant of other people’s beliefs? Is there another way to heaven besides through Jesus Christ?
B.In what countries do the displaced Palestinians live? How are they treated?Why are the Christians fleeing from PA controlled areas and cities?List the compromises make by the Israelis -the Palestinians.What would happen if the Israelis laid down their arms?What would happen if the Palestinians laid down their arms?List the demands of the Palestinians for a lasting peace. List the demands of the Israelis for a lasting peace?Do we believe the God’s Covenant with Abraham will be fulfilled or do we believe in the “replacement theology”?
C.Do you believe in the inerrancy of the Bible? Have we perverted the truth?Are we preaching an ambiguous gospel?Please tell me the scriptures in the Bible that the Methodist do not believe?
I do not believe in evolution.
I believe in capital punishment.
I am against abortion.
I believe in the inerrancy of the Bible.
I believe that through Jesus Christ is the only way to the Father and salvation.
I believe that Peace on earth can only be maintained through strength.
I believe that we must obey the laws of our country or change the the laws by the ballet box.
I believe in Genesis 1 and Romans 1.
I believe God still has plans for Israel.
I believe in the 2nd amendment to the Constitution.
I am pro- Israel.
Who is left to join our Church that we have not alienated ?The illegal immigrants?We are not able to proselytize anyone! Why? Is it unbiblical?NO. It is against our politicized faith! That is also why we can not retain our members or our youth.

A funny bit via Doctors Recommended that Tim Tebow Be Aborted – Blog – Eternal Perspective Ministries.

He started the season as the third-stringer, and everyone freaked out. Then he got a start and won, and everyone freaked out. Then in his second start, he played horribly and got crushed, and everyone freaked out. Then he went on a winning streak, and everyone freaked out. Then he went on a losing streak, and everyone freaked out. Then he won a playoff game, and everyone freaked out.

Victim count: football scouts, football media, Tebow haters, Tebow supporters, John Fox, John Elway, his teammates, me, you. At some point along the way, he’s made everyone look stupid…

Brett Favre used to be the go-to name for members of the sports media in need of a column or segment topic. But he went away, and the collective football media panicked. Fortunately, in stepped Tebow. This alone could turn thousands of grateful sports media members to religion. And I’m as guilty as anyone else. In the past two months, I’ve written approximately 127 Tebow columns. But I’ve also started tithing. Thanks Tim!

…Will a wholesome, handsome ex-football star who can draw the religious vote and appeal to the tens of millions of Oprah-loving pop psychologists win 51 percent of the vote in the 2024 presidential election? No, he will win 91 percent of the vote in the 2024 presidential election. The 9 percent who don’t vote for him will just be hard-core Raiders, Chargers, Chiefs, Alabama, LSU, Georgia and Ron Paul fans.

…He can’t be stopped. He can’t be killed. He just keeps coming for you. Coming for us all. He doesn’t want to kill you. He doesn’t want to eat your flesh. He just wants to win. He’s the world’s first wholesome, positive zombie. The only screams you’ll hear are his … celebrating another touchdown.

Pro-choicers tend to hate Tebow because of his faith and because his life shows one of the many errors of their philosophy.  His mother was encouraged to abort him because he might have medical problems — as if we would kill human beings outside the womb for those reasons!

Having said that, it is creepy when some Christians seem to worship him.  He’s a great guy and an amazing role model, but still not Jesus.  Yes, God is sovereign, but it isn’t like He is going to make sure that Tebow completes every pass he throws.  I’m glad that they are rooting for Tebow, but I hope they use his example to get out and impact the lives around them for Christ.

It is sadly ironic that pro-choice women would oppose him.  Why wouldn’t they want to hold him up as a role model?  He wouldn’t try to have sex with them outside of marriage and take their innocence and purity.  He wouldn’t use them for his pleasure and not commit to them.  He wouldn’t encourage them to have an abortion if they got pregnant.  And on and on.

I’ve been a Steelers fan for 40 years and rooted for them last Sunday, but I have to admit that I was by far the least disappointed I’ve ever been at one of their losses.

A friend reminded me of this clip so I wanted to run it again.  The video is fictional, of course, but the premise occurs countless times every day around the world: People need and want forgiveness, but the world tells them lies.

Christianity has the truth and the Good News, but far too many people claiming the name of Christ are unequipped and/or unwilling to share it, even when asked.  If that applies to you, then do something about it.  Right away!  I recommend Tactics by Greg Koukl as a great way to learn how to share your faith as an effective ambassador and apologist for Christ, just as the scriptures command.

2 Corinthians 5:20 We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God.

1 Peter 3:15–16 (ESV) but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect, having a good conscience, so that, when you are slandered, those who revile your good behavior in Christ may be put to shame.

—–

It was surprising but so encouraging to see that the clip below was on the TV show ER a couple years back.

The chaplain is the classic fake Christian you’d expect to find in most theologically liberal churches today.  I love how the patient doesn’t buy her “just make up a god in your own image” type of platitudes.

The money quotes from the dying patient:

All I’m hearing is some new age “God is love” one-size-fits-all crap . . . I don’t have time for this now . . . I want a real chaplain who believes in a real God and a real Hell . . . I don’t need to “ask myself,” I need answers, and all your questions and uncertainty are only making things worse . . .

I need someone who will look me in the eye and tell me how to find forgiveness, because I am running out of time!

Hey Christians, time to fire up!  Some people don’t want the truth.  But there are lots of real people like this in the world who need and want the truth.  They must be so sick of the lies and the politically correct “God is whoever you want him to be” nonsense taught by the world and by far too many churches.  Is it really so hard to understand that you do not get to tell the creator of the universe how eternity works?  You don’t set the terms and conditions of salvation any more than you get to tell your boss to triple your pay and give you 50 weeks of vacation, or tell your teacher that he must give you an A without you coming to class.

Are you ready to tell people the truth and the Good News?  Forgiveness, redemption and eternal life are possible, but only through trust in Jesus.

One New Testament chapter per day, 5 days per week – literally 5 minutes a day (or less) gets you through the New Testament in a year.

Read the Bible in a year – this 5 day per week plan mixes things up nicely, with a reading from a Gospel, the rest of the New Testament, a Psalm or Proverb and some other Old Testament each day.

I’m really enjoying the Chronological version that I started last September.  I like how it has you reading something like David sinning with Bathsheba and then the Psalms related to that, or a history reading from Samuel followed by the same topic in Chronicles.

Why you don’t really have free will

The link is a must-read for Christians and atheists alike.   The Christians can see the flaws in Coyne’s worldview, and the atheists should at least see how inconsistent they are when they deny Coyne’s conclusions.

Here’s why: Coyne is wildly flawed, but at least he writes somewhat consistently with his worldview (I’ll get to the “sort of” part at the end). The atheists insisting they can be “good without God” are doubly wrong: They are as flawed as Coyne in their knowledge and they don’t live consistently with their worldview.

My guess is that Coyne just writes things that are consistent with his naturalism. When it comes to practice he is probably like most hypocritical moral relativists: If you stole his car he wouldn’t just attribute it to molecules obeying the laws of physics.

‘Meat computers’

And that’s what neurobiology is telling us: Our brains are simply meat computers that, like real computers, are programmed by our genes and experiences to convert an array of inputs into a predetermined output. Recent experiments involving brain scans show that when a subject “decides” to push a button on the left or right side of a computer, the choice can be predicted by brain activity at least seven seconds before the subject is consciously aware of having made it. (These studies use crude imaging techniques based on blood flow, and I suspect that future understanding of the brain will allow us to predict many of our decisions far earlier than seven seconds in advance.) “Decisions” made like that aren’t conscious ones. And if our choices are unconscious, with some determined well before the moment we think we’ve made them, then we don’t have free will in any meaningful sense.

I wonder how well that strategy would work for a defense attorney?  Time to clear out the prisons!

More practically, it should make atheists stop using sound bites such as “science gets you to the moon, religion flies you into a burning building.”  After all, in Coyne’s assessment there is nothing morally superior about going to the moon versus killing in the name of religion.  Both are 100% deterministic, that is, they are determined by the laws of science.

Psychologists and neuroscientists are also showing that the experience of will itself could be an illusion that evolution has given us to connect our thoughts, which stem from unconscious processes, and our actions, which also stem from unconscious process. We think this because our sense of “willing” an act can be changed, created, or even eliminated through brain stimulation, mental illness, or psychological experiments. The ineluctable scientific conclusion is that although we feel that we’re characters in the play of our lives, rewriting our parts as we go along, in reality we’re puppets performing scripted parts written by the laws of physics.

So anyone subscribing to this theory should realize that any notions of “good” or “evil” are meaningless.

Most people find that idea intolerable, so powerful is our illusion that we really do make choices. But then where do these illusions of both will and “free” will come from? We’re not sure. I suspect that they’re the products of natural selection, perhaps because our ancestors wouldn’t thrive in small, harmonious groups — the conditions under which we evolved — if they didn’t feel responsible for their actions. Sociological studies show that if people’s belief in free will is undermined, they perform fewer prosocial behaviors and more antisocial behaviors.

Note how Coyne slips up here and implies that “prosocial behaviors” are somehow better than “antiscocial behaviors.”  Wouldn’t one have to have true standard of good to make that claim?

Many scientists and philosophers now accept that our actions and thoughts are indeed determined by physical laws, and in that sense we don’t really choose freely, but philosophers have concocted ingenious rationalizations for why we nevertheless have free will of a sort.

There is a simple and logical answer to Coyne: We have a body and a soul.

. . . But the most important issue is that of moral responsibility. If we can’t really choose how we behave, how can we judge people as moral or immoral? Why punish criminals or reward do-gooders? Why hold anyone responsible for their actions if those actions aren’t freely chosen?

We should recognize that we already make some allowances for this problem by treating criminals differently if we think their crimes resulted from a reduction in their “choice” by factors like mental illness, diminished capacity, or brain tumors that cause aggression. But in truth those people don’t differ in responsibility from the “regular” criminal who shoots someone in a drug war; it’s just that the physical events behind their actions are less obvious.

But we should continue to mete out punishments because those are environmental factors that can influence the brains of not only the criminal himself, but of other people as well. Seeing someone put in jail, or being put in jail yourself, can change you in a way that makes it less likely you’ll behave badly in the future. Even without free will then, we can still use punishment to deter bad behavior, protect society from criminals, and figure out better ways to rehabilitate them.

So you punish people for things they couldn’t control?  Lovely.  Using that logic, societies that cut off hands for stealing are doing a good thing.  Why not kill people for every infraction?  Wouldn’t that really improve things?

And note how Coyne says we can choose whether and how to punish.  But isn’t his primary message that we have no free will to choose?

Oh, wait, Coyne used the term “bad behavior.”  He cheated again.  And he thinks it is a moral good to protect society.  Note how he snuck morality in the back door.  And he thinks it is good to rehabilitate people.  I may have to take back my “sort of” notation and just chalk up Coyne as another wildly inconsistent atheist.

What is not justified is revenge or retribution — the idea of punishing criminals for making the “wrong choice.”

Why not?  Where does he get off saying revenge and retribution are bad?

And we should continue to reward good behavior, for that changes brains in a way that promotes more good behavior.

Whoa!  How does he decide what “good behavior” is?!  Wouldn’t all his calculations be based on these laws of physics?

There’s not much downside to abandoning the notion of free will. It’s impossible, anyway, to act as though we don’t have it: you’ll pretend to choose your New Year’s resolutions, and the laws of physics will determine whether you keep them. And there are two upsides. The first is realizing the great wonder and mystery of our evolved brains, and contemplating the notion that things like consciousness, free choice, and even the idea of “me” are but convincing illusions fashioned by natural selection.

How can there be such a thing as a “downside” or and “upside” in Coyne’s world?  Why would pretending be bad?  How could allegedly evolved brains be “wonderful” if they are just meat?

Further, by losing free will we gain empathy, for we realize that in the end all of us, whether Bernie Madoffs or Nelson Mandelas, are victims of circumstance — of the genes we’re bequeathed and the environments we encounter. With that under our belts, we can go about building a kinder world.

He goes off the rails completely in his closing comments.  Why is it good to build a kinder world?  And how can we have a choice if the universe is as deterministic as he insists?

I should have titled this, “An atheist who writes consistently with his worldview.  For three sentences.”  After you read the entire piece you’ll realize that Coyne just goes about one sentence farther than most atheists.

My conversion to Christianity and my trust in the evidence for the life, death and resurrection are 100.00% due to his beloved determinism, so for that I thank him.

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Follow up: The comment thread at the original piece was priceless.  I have encountered many hostile atheists but nothing like the ad hominem-fest offered by a guy who was 10x more inconsistent than Coyne.  It was tiring and repetitive to interact with him but illuminating as well. It is almost too easy to refute what they say. They are well educated, so it can lull people into not thinking critically — especially when it absolves them of guilt!

Watching the personal attacks fly was interesting. I know the “professional atheists” won’t be swayed by pointing out these obvious inconsistencies, as they are apparently wired by the laws of physics and chemistry to be irrational. But I hope that the nominal atheists will see how ridiculous that worldview is and reconsider their position.

Apparently Intuit, the maker of Quicken, hasn’t learned this lesson.  In order to “encourage” (read: “You can have your dog back once you send us some more money”) people to upgrade they are de-featuring their product.  Specifically, they will deliberately end the ability to download transactions from your credit card and banking institutions. But that isn’t a support feature, that is a core part of the product.

It is common for software companies to drop support for older versions.  I understand and accept that.  It is also common for software companies to significantly improve their products to entice you to upgrade.  Again, no problem there.

But this is a joke.  Once again Quicken throws in a few useless tools (A new cash flow graph is one of the four main reasons you should upgrade.  Woo-hoo!) and “only” requires you to pay the original purchase price again to get these great new features.  They aren’t even offering a discounted upgrade price.

Imagine if Microsoft said that if you don’t pay for an expensive Excel upgrade that you could still add, subtract and divide, but you couldn’t multiply.  Or if HP said you must pay for an upgrade or your sound system would stop working. That’s what Quicken is doing.

And it isn’t just the cost of the upgrade, it is the wasted hours installing and learning a new program to do the same things I was doing already.

I highly encourage people to use another software package.  Or if it is more cost-effective for you to give into the extortion then at least buy it on Amazon for less than Quicken charges you directly.

Please share this with others!

Side note to liberals: I think most will agree that this is a clear case of corporate greed leading to bad decisions and negative consequences for customers.  But do we need the government involved to solve our problems?  Not at all.  That would be an expensive disaster.  We just need competition and a free exchange of ideas.  Please keep that in mind.

I’ve read this 685 word opus three times, and I still can’t figure out what she’s talking about, what it has to do with the Scripture cited at the outset, or what it has to do with authentic Christian teaching. There are oblique references and hints at stuff that is actually Christian (there’s an allusion to something Irenaeus may have said in the fifth paragraph, and she may be referring to Mother Teresa when she says “We meet that holy child in every vulnerable human being, in every one who hungers and thirsts”). Unfortunately, those get overwhelmed in a sea of platitudes, misbegotten metaphors, inappropriate analogies, and just plain heresy (“the growing redeemer in our midst”? are those who help the poor really to be said to be “redeemers”?). Anyone out there care to try to enlighten me?

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Gay christian Mel White leader calls sin a “gift from God” – And he seems to think that God wanted him to abandon his family as well, just like the Episcopal Biship Vicki Gene Robinson.  It is notable how he says how long it took him to sin without embarrassment.  We call that searing your conscience.  I thoroughly addressed Mel’s pamphlet full of lies here.

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Kwaanza: Still not a religious holiday.  See The Kwanzaa Con: Created by a Rapist and Torturer for an overview of this political enterprise masquerading as religion.

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Saudi Textbooks Teach Kids the Correct Way to Chop off Hands, Feet – I realize that Muslims aren’t false teachers of Christian doctrine, just another false religion.  I include it here as a reminder to the Dhimmi false teachers like Chuck “Jesus is not the only way” Currie who insist that the number of “radical” Muslims is small and that we have “as much to learn” from Islam as they do from us.  Here’s the kind of foolishness Chuck & Co. preach.

Also see U.S. Mosques: 84.5% of Imams Recommend Studying Violent Texts, 58% Guest Imams Promoted Violent Jihad, 51% Texts Advocate Severe Violence.  The mainstream media and fake Christians do a great job of covering this up.

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“The more I studied the more evidence of a cover-up I discovered.” – A letter from a Mormon bishop after he discovered the lies of Mormonism.  There is hope!

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A good piece by Pastor Timothy: Christian Science: Deadly In More Ways than One.  He escaped from Christian Science so he has a unique perspective on it.